Sheffield Eagles aiming for soaring end to their campaign

Director of rugby Mark Aston says he will not let Sheffield Eagles’ season ‘peter out’ as he prepares his troops for their penultimate game of the season against Barrow tomorrow.

Whilst the Eagles have achieved their main goal of preserving their Betfred Championship status, their form has taken a dip in recent weeks with just one win from their Super 8 fixtures.

The Eagles welcome Barrow to the OLP knowing another defeat would mean the Raiders would be out of reach going into the final round of fixtures, and Aston is using the prospect of leapfrogging their opponents in the standings as an extra motivational tool.

He told The Star: “I keep challenging them and I keep asking them how they want to finish the season.

“The question for many of them is how do you want to be remembered as a Sheffield Eagles player.

“Some might not be bothered, but if you have a bit more pride then, as with every facet of life, you should want to be the best you can be. That's what you should do.

“That's all I can keep saying to them. I don't want it to peter out, I want to finish the season with a couple of positives for the fans.

“Barrow have had a good result last week, so they will come here knowing that if they beat us then they finish above us. That's the question, are we good enough to go up against them and beat them.”

The Eagles will have a doubt on skipper Matty James who suffered a hand injury at Batley last weekend, but Mark Offerdahl is back in contention for Aston who is again down on numbers.

His only other salvation is dual-reg partners St Helens, but assistance has been in small quantities in recent weeks.

“There are one or two carrying knocks, Matty James might have broke his hand but we should have Mark Offerdahl available,” he added.

“We are busted up, we only had 17 last week, but we'll patch them up and try and finish strong.

“I will be working at beg, stealing and borrowing what I can from St Helens. Let's hope they can get a few back so I can get a few off them which will help us.